Self-injurers as loners: the social organization of solitary deviance

In this paper we examine the social organization of people who deliberately destroy or damage their own body tissue without suicidal intent. Best and Luckenbill (1982) have proposed two typologies of deviance performed by solitary actors: loners, who lack the regular association with fellow deviants and have no membership in a deviant subculture, and individual deviants, who are the actors and objects of their behaviors, yet socialize with others like them. Based on a convenience sample of 40 in-depth interviews with people who self-cut, burn, brand, scratch, bite, and bone-break, we describe and analyze the way their behaviors correspond to and differ from other forms of individual and loner deviance.